


on my couch, you're welcome to crash

by salvatorestjohn



Series: Six Days of Ficmas [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Movies, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Implied Relationships, Light Angst, Multi, Nightmares, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earth, assuming that they keep with killing oliver off, or feelings anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salvatorestjohn/pseuds/salvatorestjohn
Summary: "Alright, how about we just agree that..." Oliver hesitates, then presses his lips together with a slight shake of his head, "...Santa, would happily throw us all down a chimney, and the Grinch would more than likely be disappointed in us. Sound good?"A beat passes as they all glance at each other, Oliver raising his eyebrows at the two of them in wait for agreement. Barry has to bite the inside of his cheek so that he won't laugh, and he can tell it's a struggle for them as well. Kara somehow seems to have mastered it, though, and he's supposed to be the one who minored in drama.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Kara Danvers/Oliver Queen
Series: Six Days of Ficmas [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575109
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	on my couch, you're welcome to crash

Red skies. Lightning crashes down, scorching the ground while thunder rumbles overhead, threatening to split their entire world apart. Barry knows it's not real, deep down, somewhere inside of his subconscious. Crisis happened, but it's over. Yet it doesn't rid of him the helpless feeling clawing at him as he moves in a frenzy, too fast, every nerve in his body on fire, trying to outrun it.

Millions of universes are destroyed in front of his eyes everywhere he looks. Flashes upon flashes of death and chaos and panic and grief. A sense of urgency pulls at him. To stop it, to save everyone, knowing what he has to do. The Flash must die. But The Flash is already dead, because he couldn't save him. 

He watches people he's never even met be struck down; cries for a blue beetle and Starfire to help. People falling out of the sky, hit with unavoidable blasts. Others frenzied and crazed, trying to tear at each other. Pure, unnatural terror in their wide eyes as they fight for a seemingly unknown reason. The knowledge of every universe that once existed bombards him like a head-on collision until his head is spinning and he wants to scream out for it to just stop, he's trying to fix it, he'll find a way, he'll stop this—

Barry squeezes his eyes shut, grasping onto that little voice in the back of his head reminding him that it's not real. The screaming stops with a lurch in his stomach and his chest. His hands scramble at the sheets underneath him, quickly inhaling a deep breath of air, sucking it down into his lungs as he pushes himself up. 

It's bright all around him and he blinks quickly. It only takes a second for his eyes to adjust like they've done every night for the last three weeks and four days that he hasn't been able to sleep in the dark. It brings too many shadows, contorted and twisted images lurking in the corners of the room of things he shouldn't know and should never have seen. Just like when he was eleven but magnified by a thousand.

The familiar sight of his bedroom has a surge of relief sinking into him, easing the buzzing beneath his skin and the vibrating in his veins. He quickly looks to his right only to find an empty space next to him in the bed. His heart beats like a drum against his ribs, refusing to slow, convinced of some danger. 

An image from his dream—nightmare, memory, alternate universe, he doesn't know how to distinguish it anymore—is dragged back into his mind. Panic flares back up inside of him even with that little voice trying to assure him. He agrees with it as he hurries to pull the sheets away from him and climbs out of bed, ignoring the cold wood of the floors beneath his bare feet. It was a dream, a distant memory, nothing more.

Lightning crackles in his ears and all around his head. He's at the bottom of the stairs in the blink of an eye. 

Everything seems perfectly normal. Especially the Kryptonian sitting cross-legged on his couch with a remote in hand, flipping through the TV channels as it plays on the lowest volume. The relief sinks in completely this time, his shoulders sagging and the tension from the nightmare draining away. 

"You sure know how to give someone a scare," he says, able to manage a smile as he walks over, slower now without the sense of urgency.

Kara nearly jumps out of her skin as her head snaps to her left at the sound of his voice. Her wide eyes quickly take in the sight of him, pausing in his movements, his hands raising slightly in front of him. Recognition flickers across her face, followed by relief, and then regret. 

"Sorry," she says, closing her eyes and ducking her head. "Just jumpy."

Barry understands. They're all jumpy. The Crisis was three weeks ago. Three weeks since nearly every single universe was destroyed, since their own were merged into one that none of them recognizes. It's been hard to adjust, for all of them. 

They're all on edge, all left with a sense of displacement. They're all lost, and confused, and just trying to make sense of this new world that they were put into without any explanation, or at least try and adapt to it. Even the Legends are struggling now that time itself and their entire history has been distorted. 

The Anti-Monitor is dead thanks to Oliver by some miracle, and yet, it somehow still feels like they lost.

"It's okay," Barry says, his voice soft, shaking his head as he proceeds in approaching her. "I just noticed you weren't in bed. And, I gotta say, I've gotten pretty used to you being there now. Not the part where you hog the sheets, but..."

His attempt to lighten things back up is successful as Kara laughs, lifting her head back up to look at him as he grins. He's gotten used to this. Brief moments of happiness, shared laughter and smiles, making jokes to cheer each other up, and simply being there when that doesn't work. He's gotten used to just being around her. It's one of the things in this new world that feels normal. And right.

"I just... couldn't sleep," Kara says, her voice trailing into a sigh at the end. "Guess you couldn't either, huh?"

"Usual terrifying nightmare that ends in pretty much the same way," he says, nodding as he perches next to her on the arm of the couch. "You?"

Kara nods along with him. "Yeah, same thing. I actually called Kal, to make sure it wasn't real."

"Well, he might be sleeping right now, so I'm not sure you should take him not answering as a sign," Barry points out.

"Oh no, he answered," Kara says, and Barry's eyebrows raise in surprise. "He doesn't seem to be sure if his sleepless nights are because of having to adjust like all of us or because of Jonathan. Tonight was his night shift so Lois could get some sleep."

Barry chuckles and recalls Iris mentioning something about that to him just a few days ago. Clark and Lois haven't exactly had the time to be stressed or worried about this new world that Johnathan doesn't even realize is different from the original one. He thinks there's some luck in there, that they have something more important to put their attention on. Maybe he should offer to babysit sometime. By the sounds of it, they could do with a quiet night, and it's not as if Barry sleeps all that much anymore as it is.

"Well, seeing as how we're both awake and probably not going to be able to get back to sleep for a while," he says, pausing long enough for her confirmation, "I suggest a movie. You can pick as long as it's Christmas themed. Or just holiday-themed in general, whatever floats your boat."

Kara raises an eyebrow at him, her mouth stretching in a grin. He nods to himself again, pressing his lips together.

"Yeah, I heard it in my head and still said it anyway."

"You're such a dork."

The teasing way she says it makes him smile. His gaze lingers on her for a moment as she smiles back before turning her attention back to the TV, the remote still in her hand. He can't help but notice that she doesn't quite stop smiling. It's more relaxed than he's used to. Or at least, used to be used to, he supposes, since this is now his everyday life.

The subtle creases at the corners of her lips and by her eyes, easier to see with her glasses still somewhere upstairs on the table in his room. The strands of slightly curled hair hanging by her face, come loose or ignored when she scraped the rest up into a messy knot of sorts on the top of her head. The cute pyjamas—currently Christmas themed, courtesy of a shopping trip with Caitlin, Iris, and Lena in the hopes that it would take their minds off of everything else.

It's all his everyday life, and night. He doesn't mind all that much.

"You know I have super sight, right?" Kara says without even glancing at him, flicking onto the next channel.

"Right," Barry says, quickly standing, his face burning at being caught as he moves across the room towards the kitchen. 

When his eyes dart back over to her, though, he catches her smile widening. He shakes his head to himself, fondness spreading slowly through him as if turning his veins to jelly. Being a speedster makes everything feel weird, even the simplest emotions. This one is sort of pleasant and relaxing. 

He turns to the task at hand before he gets himself caught again. Supersight doesn't sound like a real thing, but he is aware that superpowers give people the strangest of abilities, and Kara is quite literally an alien. Plus, it's not like he wasn't staring. Really it was more admiring. Or zoning out. Whichever stops his skin from heating up like it's currently doing, closing his eyes briefly as he continues with a slight smile.

"How do you feel about Elf?" Kara asks.

Barry grabs a second mug from the rack—the one paved with a yellow brick road and little red heels making their way up it, bought on the second week of Kara's stay with him to make her feel a little more at home—before glancing back at her. Her nose is scrunched as she stares at the TV with furrowed brows.

"It's okay, but not really my favourite," he says, shrugging. 

"Mine either," Kara agrees, and quickly flick to a different channel. 

Barry turns back, setting about making the hot chocolate. He peers into one of the cupboards and pulls out two bags of marshmallows. One has miniature-sized marshmallow, but way more of them and more than just vanilla, while the other has oversized, fluffy, stuffed ones. He weighs the options as he hears Kara dismiss some clearly not Christmas-themed movie. 

"Hey, which would you pref—"

A quiet knock at the front door cuts him off. His eyes immediately go to Kara, confusion passing between them as she looks over at him. He shrugs but doesn't say anything as he crosses over to the door, his feet light on the ground, barely making a sound.

They haven't had a single meta or alien attack since Crisis, but they've been on edge all the same. No one can figure out what really _happened_ to the anti-monitor, not even Lyla, who's apparently no long Harbinger anymore, but they're determined they aren't going to be surprised by him if this was all part of another plan and he does decide to show his face. 

Barry cracks the door open, peering out into the hallway, already steeling himself for an immediate attack. It's pointless, though, as there's no threat. Only Oliver, standing outside his apartment with a sheepish expression and looking like he hasn't slept in years. That wouldn't be much of a surprise knowing him. 

Barry's eyes widen a touch in surprise, his defences dropping away with ease as he stares back at him uncertainly.

"Oliver?" he asks, his brow furrowing,

Oliver gives a small, barely-there smile in response. It's not some shapeshifter or confusing mind-trick from Bloodwork, who seems to have mysteriously disappeared as well, of that he's sure. No one but Oliver himself can get his signature dark and serious, bordering on brooding look quite like that.

"What?" Kara calls out, confusion in her voice. "Oliver?"

Taking a step to the side, Barry fully opens the door, no longer feeling a need to shield the apartment. Oliver nods in thanks, and steps inside enough for Barry to close the door behind him again. He's met with no protests. That's a good sign, he thinks. Usually, when there's a problem, Oliver insists that he can't stay, that they need to go right now, this very second. 

As Barry moves back from the door, Oliver smiles over at Kara, giving a slight wave. He doesn't seem all that surprised at her being there. He supposes that it's common knowledge to everyone by now that she's been staying with him since her apartment building doesn't quite exist on this world and she just isn't ready to go out and find somewhere else quite yet. 

The surprise that's visible all over Kara's face quickly disappears with a few blinks, and she lifts a hand ever so slightly in a half-wave. Barry doesn't miss the relief that sinks into the smile she directs back to him, her eyebrows still raised an inch or two.

"Is everything okay, Ollie?" Barry can't help but ask, his confusion getting the better of him. He hurries to add, "not that you can't just stop by, obviously. You know you're always welcome here, whenever. I just mean because it's, like, three in the morning and you still live four-thousand miles away..."

He trails off, almost ending in a concerned question. Unless Oliver's suddenly turned into a speedster because of Crisis and just happened to forget to mention it until now, the situation is a little puzzling. Trains don't even run from Star to Central City at three in the morning; he's checked. For no particular reason.

"Yeah, should we be worried?" Kara chimes in, lowering the remote, the search for a movie abandoned. 

Oliver quickly shakes his head, waving them off with a soft laugh. 

"No, no, everything's...everything's fine," he assures them. "I was, erm, I was already in town. Felicity's idea; Dinah wanted to see her family with it being so close to the holidays, and she somehow convinced everyone that a visit would be good for us. Pretty much the entire team got in yesterday except for Rene and Zoe, but it was late, so."

"Where are you staying?" Barry asks, shaking his head. "I highly doubt Dinah's family has enough room for all of Team Arrow."

"Hotel," Oliver simply explains, his smile growing as he glances at Kara, motioning his head in her direction, and jokingly says, "not all of us are lucky enough to have our own speedster with an empty guest room. But Queen Incorporated owns the place anyway, so, it's fine."

"You're more than welcome to crash here as well," Barry quickly blurts without thinking, his eyes wide.

Oliver and Kara both look at him in surprise, but Kara's expression is already softening again, that smile settling back across her face. He shrugs, halfheartedly waving a hand towards her, the other gesturing around them.

"I have the room. Kara doesn't really use either of the guest rooms anyway." He brushes off the flicker of confusion then curiosity in Oliver's eyes. "And Iris is still staying with Joe while she figures out the whole Eddie-being-mysteriously-resurrected thing, which I'm still not entirely sure how to process yet either. So, you and William can stay here while you're in town if you want to."

Oliver's already shaking his head. "As nice of it is for you to offer, I don't want to impose."

Barry sinks a little. He had been expecting him to shoot the offer down, of course, but he had still been hoping he would take him up on it. 

"You wouldn't be," Kara says, sounding as if the assumption is ridiculous. "Right, Barry?"

Barry's eyes dart between them, but he quickly nods, agreeing with her. "Yeah, it really wouldn't be a problem."

"See?" Kara says before Oliver can get a word out, his mouth barely opening. "I don't mind, Barry doesn't mind. And—it's nearly Christmas. Unless you plan on going home for the holidays, you shouldn't be spending them in a _hotel_ when there's a perfectly good place for you here."

Barry glances at her. He can't help but wonder if that applies to her, too. Alex and Lena and all of her own people who survived from her own earth are settling into this new world with places of their own. Clark and Lois have offered Kara a place in their home. She would probably rather stay with them for the holidays, rather than just hang out with them like they've all planned to do.

They had to do something, to push themselves into moving forward, leave Crisis behind them. Get back to their version of normality.

He pulls himself back as Oliver hesitates, looking between them with uncertainty. 

"You're sure?" he asks them. "You wouldn't mind us staying with you? Because—I have to warn you, even though it would only be for a few nights, just until New Year, William is at a very strange teenage stage. He can be...a handful, and I don't want you guys—"

"Oliver, you don't have to worry," Barry tells him, walking forward with a bright grin. Oliver's eyebrows furrow as he slings an arm around his shoulders. "William loves me, remember? The Flash is his favourite superhero after all, and I have a feeling that Supergirl is pretty high up on that list as well."

Kara laughs as Oliver rolls his eyes. As much as he tries to look unamused, there's a twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth. 

"You make a somewhat good, if not mildly irritating, point," Oliver agrees, then sighs. "I'm still trying to adjust to seeing him like this again after spending so much time with him as an adult. I have no idea if I tell him or if that'll just confuse him and mess something up. I don't think I've slept properly once this year."

"Then you're definitely in the right place," Barry says, squeezing his shoulder with a sympathetic grin. "Why do you think we're awake at three in the morning?"

"Because you're both weird," Oliver says bluntly as if he had thought that observation was obvious.

"Okay, rude," Kara says, then shrugs. "But fair. But—" her eyebrows furrow, "—how did you know we would be awake?"

"I feel like my last answer covers that as well," Oliver says, feigning confusion. Barry rolls his eyes while Kara shakes her head, glancing away with a smile. "It was just a hunch," he adds. "I was awake, thought I might as well see if anyone else in this city couldn't sleep. Figured it was better to come here than go to STAR Labs."

Barry whistles through his teeth and nods. "Smart move. Harry and Jesse have been camped out there while they try and figure out what the anti-monitor did to bring them back, and Wally hasn't left Jesse's side, and Cisco's barely left the Labs, which means that Caitlin hasn't either, and—"

"It's chaos," Kara finishes for him. "Everyone's on edge and cranky and no one's really feeling in the festive spirit right now, especially while running on barely any sleep."

"Except for you two," Oliver points out, glancing between them.

"Oh, trust me, we have not been this cheerful all the time," she says, practically scoffing as she holds her hands up in front of her. "Have you ever tried to wake Barry up in the morning? He's a nightmare. A very generous, caring nightmare who I am very grateful for, but a nightmare all the same."

Oliver raises his eyebrows as its Barry's turn to scoff now. 

"Oh yeah? At least I don't threaten to laser someone's face off for using up all the coffee in the morning," he retorts while trying his best to bite back a grin and ultimately failing when Kara gives a slightly theatrical gasp. 

"You know that I don't function well without it!" she protests for the sake of playing along now, poking a finger into the air between them.

"Wait, aren't you a literal alien?" Oliver asks, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Why do you need coffee?"

"Why do _you_ need coffee?" Kara shoots back, arching an eyebrow at him and making Barry try and suppress a snicker as Oliver falters, his mouth opening then closing again. "Just because we came from different planets doesn't mean we don't still have the same needs. Which was not how that was supposed to come out—caffeine is a universal requirement!"

Oliver raises his hands in front of him, his eyes wide. "That's a good point. I retract my question."

Barry laughs, not bothering to hide it this time even as Oliver turns his head to glare at him. He just gives his shoulder another squeeze and it disappears with a blink as Kara sinks back into the couch with a grin and slightly tinted cheeks. Barry pretends not to the notice the last part.

"Come on, we were just making some hot chocolate," he says. "You can help Kara pick a movie to pass the time. But no Elf. We came to a consensus on that just before you got here."

"And the marshmallows?" Oliver asks, raising an eyebrow.

Barry follows his amused gaze down to the bags in his hand. He had completely forgotten he had them. At least he was sort of prepared if it wasn't Oliver at the door and something that had come ready to attack.

"Hot chocolate," he explains.

"Ah," Oliver nods, his mouth curving, "of course. Hot chocolate and Christmas movies at three in the morning. Makes perfect sense."

"Nothing in our lives makes sense." Barry's smile slips the tiniest bit, but he manages to keep it in place as he glances over at Kara before looking back at Oliver and shrugging. "Might as well at least get some enjoyment out of it, right?"

Oliver hesitates again, gazing back at him with a glint in his eyes. A beat passes through the room, the reminder of everything that happened with the anti-monitor and Crisis going left unspoken. As it should, Barry thinks, because he's right. Until whatever the next big crisis is going to be rears its ugly head, they have to live their lives.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Oliver says, nodding slowly, only for him to falter and shake his head instead. "But I shouldn't stay. Not tonight, at least. I left William back at the hotel with Felicity, but he was awake, and I told him I was coming here, so—"

"So he knows where you are, that you're safe, and he is in hands safer than any of ours," Barry cuts him off gently, then adds, "no offence."

"I would say some taken, but I'm pretty sure you're right," Oliver says, almost sighing. 

"Well, I don't know what you two are on about, because I'm great with kids," Kara says smugly, sinking back against the couch.

Barry's eyebrows raise. He's tempted to point out that she told him about the time she managed to lose someone else's daughter during a game of hide and seek and couldn't find her for three hours, or even that the one time she was babysitting Jonathan, he nearly flew into a wall. She looks so happy though as she finally goes back to flicking through the movies that he doesn't bother.

He just smiles and gives a little shake of his head before turning back to look at Oliver as he finally drops his arm from around his shoulders.

"William will be fine for tonight. You're already here. You might as well just stay, try and get some sleep or don't. Just at least stay until it's actually daytime again, alright?" He flashes a joking grin as he nudges his shoulder, drawing Oliver's eyes down to it in confusion. "Oliver Queen walking the streets of Central City in the middle of the night is bound to raise a few questions."

"That's if anyone even knows me here, remember," Oliver says, but he relaxes a little as Barry moves around him to get into the kitchen. "The people of this Star City remember Oliver Queen the billionaire playboy instead of all of the times I've been arrested as Green Arrow who is apparently dead, so. I don't know what Central City knows about me."

Barry shakes his head and throws a glance back at him over his shoulder, taking a half-step backwards. "Trust me, no one could forget you."

"It's true," Kara agrees, nodding, casually changing the channel from what sounds like Gremlins to something far more cheerful and way more animated. "You're practically a legend from what I've heard. Or, technically are one. Hey, maybe you could join them on the waverider!"

Oliver rolls his eyes and Barry snorts at her teasing, busying himself with grabbing another mug for the finished hot chocolate. 

"Alright," Oliver sighs, but it's halfhearted as he smiles, holding his hands up in surrender. "If you're both really okay with it, then I'll stay for tonight, just until it's light again."

He finally moves at Kara's gesture for him to join her, obliging as he slips out of his coat. Barry smiles to himself and grabs the tub of cinnamon left out on the counter from this morning's coffee; he and Kara _have the same need to make things as festive as possible, including their coffee, he's discovered_. And he may or may not remember Oliver's orders from when Iris still worked at Jitters.

"Are you more of a Nightmare Before Christmas person or a Knight Before Christmas person?" Kara asks without taking her eyes off of the TV.

"Is there a difference?" Oliver asks, his eyebrows furrowing in genuine confusion. 

"Is there a—of course there's a difference!" Kara sputters, her hand flying out in a wild gesture. "For one, animation versus live action. And Nightmare Before Christmas is obviously on the same level as Gremlins while the Knight is more on the romcom, sort of Hallmark movie spectrum of holiday movies."

Oliver nods slowly, just staring at her. "You're passionate about movies, huh?"

"That would be an understatement," Barry says over his shoulder, carefully sprinkling a teaspoon of cinnamon over the mugs. 

He's not kidding. In the short amount of time she's been with him, they've watched more movies than he thinks he did when he got out of the speed force. Not that he minds. They tend to agree on most of the movies, anyway. Especially musicals. Always musicals. 

When he throws a glance at them, Kara's cheeks have tinted a slight pink at his response. He cracks a grin while she rolls her eyes. 

"Just help me here," she says with a smile, waving both hands at the TV. "Romcom, animation? Tragedy? Musical?"

"What about the Grinch?" Oliver suggests, the corners of his mouth quirking ever so slightly, looking rather smug. 

"Why am I not surprised that your go-to Christmas movie is the Grinch?" Barry teases as he turns to face the rest of the room, a mug in each of his hands. "It makes perfect sense. I wonder, did you and Thea ever have any fun at Christmas growing up? Like, at all? Or did she just go around calling you a bad banana?"

His eyes sparkle with amusement as Oliver attempts to shoot him another glare, but it's more than halfhearted this time, merely a raise of his eyebrows and a smirk. Barry simply hides his grin in his own mug to see if he's forgotten anything. Perfect ratio of chocolate to that kick of cinnamon, sweetened with a couple of already melting mini marshmallows. They seemed like the smarter option considering there's now three of them.

Kara finally follows Oliver's pointed glance down to her top after starting to give her answer on her feelings about the Grinch, which, Barry is already well aware are along the lines of _love it, let's watch it right now_. She apparently thinks it has one of the best messages a Christmas movie could have, right underneath The Wizard of Oz.

"Oh," Kara says, nodding slowly as she points to the mostly green top with the grinch on it, looking back up at Oliver with a slow-forming smile. "Okay. I get it."

"You're the reason Santa has a naughty list?" Oliver questions, playing along as he reads from the quote on her top, his head tilting in mock confusion. "Out of curiosity, have you, literal Supergirl, ever actually done one _naughty_ thing in your life?"

Barry snorts and nearly chokes, swallowing the very hot chocolate too quickly in a gulp of air, leaving him sputtering and trying not to laugh and risk choking on the last of it still in his mouth. Kara's eyes dart to him and Oliver's grin widens as he waves a hand to signal he's okay before quickly using it to cover his mouth.

"Of course I have!" Kara protests, with a touch of conviction that does nothing to convince Oliver in the slightest by the looks of it. "I'll have you know, I've done a lot of bad things. I'm not proud of them. But I have. Satisfied, Mr. _You've Failed This City_?"

Her rather hilarious and not quite right impression of Oliver's voice has Barry grinning from ear-to-ear, shaking his head at them. Oliver tries to glare at her. Barry's sure that he really does try his hardest, but will as he might, it falls apart and softens with reluctant amusement. He's never been able to be annoyed or fully exasperated with her, everyone who has eyes is aware of that. 

"I don't know what you're looking so happy about over there," Kara says, nodding her head over at him and snapping him back, his eyebrows raising an inch or two. "If I'm not eligible for the naughty list then you practically invented the nice list!"

Barry gapes at her as Oliver laughs, his face lighting up with delight. Kara glances at him, and her smile widens a little, even if she doesn't seem to notice it herself. It's nice, good, perfect, something that Barry wants to see for the rest of his life. His mind starts to trip on that thought, clumsy and trying to backtrack, question it.

He doesn't give it a chance, deciding that for once, he doesn't want to overthink something. Just let it play out. Enjoy it. 

"I'm not nice!" he protests with an overdramatic tone that he learned from his drama years in high school, playing along. "I mean, obviously I try to be, because everyone should try and be at least a little nice in the world, but I—I have done some things! Things that would...you know, scare you and stuff. I am far from Santa's nice list."

Kara and Oliver both raise an unconvinced eyebrow at him now. 

"You're like a freaking ball of sunshine!" Kara argues, waving a hand at him for emphasis. "You—you're practically Cindy Lou! You're a who!"

"I can't help but feel like I've started something I shouldn't have," Oliver says, but he's grinning wider than Barry has ever seen on him as his eyes dart between them, a strange glint in them. It's a good look. 

"I'm a _who_?" Barry repeats, feigning offence, narrowing his eyes at Kara as she nods vigorously, her eyes too wide and the corners of her mouth twitching too much. "Really? You think that out of the three of us, I'm the one who's most like Cindy?"

Kara just gives a vague yet very clear shrug of her shoulders, crossing her arms over the top that started this in the first place. It really does look cute on her, he can't help but think, especially paired with Santa shorts. It's taking everything in him not to break over the fluffy white trimming on them alone. 

He opens his mouth to respond with a witty retort that he's almost positive will break her first. If only he had one. 

"Alright, how about we just agree that..." Oliver hesitates, then presses his lips together with a slight shake of his head, "...Santa, would happily throw us all down a chimney, and the Grinch would more than likely be disappointed in us. Sound good?"

A beat passes as they all glance at each other, Oliver raising his eyebrows at the two of them in wait for agreement. Barry has to bite the inside of his cheek so that he won't laugh, and he can tell it's a struggle for them as well. Kara somehow seems to have mastered it, though, and he's supposed to be the one who minored in drama. 

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that having Santa _and_ the Grinch not like me sounds _good_ ," she mutters in a mock huff as she sinks down into the couch, fiddling with the remote. 

That's what does it. Barry breaks, a snort turning into a bubble of laughter from his chest, and within two seconds he goes from barely straight-faced to cracking up so hard his ribs actually hurt a bit. One escapes from Kara as well, her whole face splitting in a second as her eyes crinkle. Oliver's laughing as well; a real laugh, so different from the deep, mildly amused chuckle he usually gives.

It's the first time in months that he's felt the vibrations of happiness in the air, ringing through them. It's like it just sucks out all of the tension that's been building and festering inside of them, leaving only a crashing sense of relief and peace. 

"Right," Oliver says once they start to come back down, though his voice still shakes and he can't seem to wipe the smile off of his face. "I was promised hot chocolate and a movie if I stayed."

"Hey, since our bribery has you here," Barry's already turning around to set his own mug down and grab the other two, but he just knows Oliver rolls his eyes, can practically see it, "maybe we should put the tree up! We've been meaning to for a week now, but you know how it is, and since we're all awake..."

He turns back to them with a bright and hopeful grin, crossing the room. Kara's face has lit up at the idea, straightening up as she gratefully accepts the Wizard of Oz mug topped with cinnamon and little marshmallows bobbing up and down. They both look at Oliver. 

His eyes grow, darting between them. "No," he says, and shakes his head. "I did not agree to decorate, and—it's nearly four in the morning."

"So?" Kara says without missing a beat.

Barry's grin widens in undeniable fondness, and they stare at Oliver expectantly. He gives another slight shake of his head but hesitates as his lips part, wavering. Barry catches his gaze and gives the tiniest raise of his eyebrows. He can see it; the flicker in Oliver's eyes, his act falling away in front of them. 

They all need to live their lives. Have to move forward, stop worrying that this calm has all been a facade and the skies are about to turn red and plummet them right into their next Crisis. Even Oliver isn't exempt from needing to heal, especially with everything he was put through by not only the anti-monitor, but the monitor as well, and becoming Spectre. And from what Barry's heard, he was already dealing with a lot before Crisis started.

He seems to come to the same conclusion as before. _Moving forward,_ Barry can practically hear Oliver say from the way his expression softens and he gives a little nod, a smile slowly curving his mouth once more. Try as he might to suppress it, which he clearly does as he rolls his eyes.

"I suppose I could help with the tree," he says. 

Kara grins and claps her hands together in excitement, practically squealing with delight. It makes Oliver's smile that much brighter and Barry knows in that moment. The way his own heart fills and grows and how he's sure he wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. They're all things Oliver's feeling as well. They're all goners. 

Barry happily hands over the mug in his hand to Oliver at last, receiving an appreciative nod in response as Kara's already climbing off of the couch. Their eyes lock for just a moment, and it's long enough for it to pass between them. Oliver doesn't seem surprised in the slightest. Barry supposes nothing really comes as a shock to any of them anymore. 

"Oh, someone put the Grinch on!" Kara calls. "We need background noise."

The remote comes flying at them and Barry's eyes widen as he quickly fumbles it, managing to catch it at the last second in an awkward grasp after nearly dropping it. He flashes them both a sheepish grin. Kara and Oliver look at each other, and Barry just knows. This is just right.

He quickly flips to the right channel, pulling The Grinch up just five minutes in. Then Kara's tugging on his arm, pulling him over to the box in the corner of the room where they abandoned any thought of putting the tree up after they both realized they couldn't bring themselves to do it. Oliver sighs when they insist he join them, but he stands all the same and moves over to help, sipping his hot chocolate. 

The next two hours feel like they last forever in the best way possible, like some scene out of a movie. They laugh and talk and are more at ease than they have been for weeks as they joke around while attempting to assemble the rather stubborn tree then hang every decoration they can find on it, The Grinch playing away in the background. 

If someone asked Barry in that moment what he wants for Christmas, he would say nothing. Right now, in that moment, he has everything he could want. Especially when it ends with the three of them eventually passing out on the couch after collapsing onto it for a break to watch whatever movie has started playing on its own. It's somehow a little easier to fall asleep with them right there with him. The thought that this really could be for more than just a couple nights crosses his mind and that's all he would ask for, he decides. To just be happy. 


End file.
